Future NFL players just lost big

NFL football commissioner Roger Goodell delivers a Dean’s Distinguished Lecture at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, where he discussed some of the rules that have been created to limit concussions in the game of football. Goodell said the league will do what it needs to do to protect the safety of its 1,800 players. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
— AP

NFL football commissioner Roger Goodell delivers a Dean’s Distinguished Lecture at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, where he discussed some of the rules that have been created to limit concussions in the game of football. Goodell said the league will do what it needs to do to protect the safety of its 1,800 players. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
/ AP

When the NFL concussion suit was settled Thursday, three winners stood atop the podium -- each holding bouquets with one hand while blowing kisses with the other.

In the middle was the NFL, which came out with no more than a paper cut after agreeing to fork over $765 million in compensation and other research funds -- a pittance when juxtaposed with the league's annual profits.

To the left were the 4,500 plaintiffs, who, sure, may have been able to get more, but still came away with an average of $170,000, or, in the cases of those suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Alzheimer's or dementia -- between $3-5 million.

And to the right were the fans, who, because the NFL incurred no responsibility for head injuries in years past, get to enjoy their favorite game for decades to come.

So were there any losers in all this? Oh, no one important. Just, you know -- anyone who will ever play a down in the NFL again.

If the NFL wasn't responsible for any brain injuries in the past, it won't be for any in the future, meaning that organ between its players' ears will continue to turn into mush.

That's not to say that this case hasn't been beneficial toward preventing concussions. In fact, you could argue that every recent rule change implemented to reduce head injuries was a direct result of this lawsuit.

But now that the NFL is free from any liability, why would it care if it puts any of its players on disability?

You see, the 4,500 or so retired players who sued the NFL in this case claimed that the league withheld information regarding the long-term consequences of concussions. The plaintiffs maintained that had they been aware of the potential brain damage, they could have taken measures to avoid experiencing some of the debilitating effects that afflicted the likes of Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, both of whom were suicide victims suffering from CTE.

But should this ruling stand, something most reports say is highly likely, there will be no discovery process that could potentially reveal any concealment on the NFL's part. In other words, from a legal standpoint, an NFL career and a long-term brain injury is nothing more than a coincidence.

So now, as once gravely feared would be the case, insurance companies will not retreat from the NFL. And if you expect any rule changes for the sake of health to take place after this settlement, you are making the mistake of thinking morals ever outweigh dollars in the league's decision-making process.

If anything, when the vast majority of fans cry that the game is too safe -- that the rule changes have transformed football into something that it is not -- the NFL will make some not-so-obvious adjustments to boost the game's brutality. And why not? It's not like football causes brain damage anyway, right?